


A Bird in a Cage

by orphan_account



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Timelines, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Falling In Love, Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-29 05:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1860s; Elena is a beautiful Southern belle and the daughter of Mystic Fall's off-kilter inventor, Johnathan Gilbert, and his wife. But while she's the girl any man would be happy to marry, she finds herself paired off with the town's wildest bachelor, Damon Salvatore. Maybe she can tame him with a little work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Theme challenge! I love AUs that take the timeline out of whack and I'm just too attracted to the idea of Elena sorta replacing Katherine in the 1860s. :) Been really wanting to expand on this idea for awhile now and things might kinda...end up out of order, but I suppose that's to be expected with a challenge like this.

Elena Gilbert was not the kind of girl Damon ever expected to end up with, not with being the...’bad’ Salvatore brother, the one who was expected to run wild his whole life like a stallion that couldn’t be tamed. The one who seemed to shun his growing responsibility at every turn. But then his father told him of Elena Gilbert--and by told, he completely meant that he would be marrying the young girl, a relative of Mystic Falls’ very own founding family. She was good and kind, sweet, beautiful, with a large, giving heart...the kind of woman that any man would want to have for his wife. He figured she would be better suited for his brother, Stefan, by the sounds of it, but when he saw her, it was a completely different story.

She had large, brown eyes and curling, auburn hair that tumbled over her bare shoulders where her tight-laced, purple dress cut away to show the pale, olive skin of her collarbone down to the tops of her breasts. She looked more doll than girl, Damon had thought, smiling at her and lifting her hand to his mouth to press a kiss to it in a charming fashion, making her giggle slightly in the process with a blush coming over her cheeks. She seemed a delicate one, the kind of woman to sit in the shade on a hot Virginia afternoon, nursing a lemonade and doing her needlework while she waited for her husband to come home for dinner. At least he thought so, until he examined her closely. There was a spark in her eyes, a fire beneath her warm skin. It reminded Damon of himself in all actuality. ...So maybe this arrangement wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe father had actually done something right towards his elder son for once in his life.

“Good day, Miss Elena. I do hope you are faring this heat well,” he said with a slight, secret smirk on his face that she shared with him in a quick moment without any hesitation or fear.

“As well as any other woman, I suppose, Mr. Salvatore,” she replied her voice light and amused with a slight southern purr underneath while she gave him a bit of a curtsy, grabbing her fine dress in her other small hand.

There wasn’t any nervousness in her, just mirth and...maybe some sort of excitement. This was the start of something new for the both of them, a change in life...towards marriage, as much as Damon hadn’t wanted it before, especially not an arrangement like this, but he couldn’t help but think Elena might be the kind of girl he could fall in love with eventually. The kind of girl he could spend his years with.

He pulled himself from his thoughts to focus on the girl across from him again, moving an arm to usher her towards the main house of the Veritas estate, large, yet warm and welcoming. “Would you like to come in then? We could sit in the study out of the sun and speak,” Damon offered, giving a grin when she nodded her head yes, a bit anxiously, but she also took a step towards him in the same moment, rather bravely.

“I’d like that very much.”


	2. Complicated

Leave it up to Giuseppe Salvatore to complicate everything, to be stubborn and always want things his way and nobody else’s. Damon wasn’t surprised really--he was used to it by now, having grown up dealing with his father’s issues. He just wished it didn’t have to be over Elena’s dowry. In his father’s eyes it was a meager sum, in Damon’s...well, he really could have cared less about the amount. The Salvatores were wealthy enough anyways. In the weeks he had come to know the young Gilbert, he had been quite happy with her--the happiest he had been in a long time, really. Stefan and even the servants had noticed a change in him...and to think that now he might lose it all just because his father was being an ass.

Still, even with the complications, Damon arrived at the Gilbert house to visit his future bride as though nothing at all was wrong or weighing on his shoulders. He just couldn’t spend his time worrying over it--if he did, he would probably go mad in the process. ...Which wouldn’t be good for Elena. She needed him to be strong as her soon-to-be (hopefully) husband, and he had to show her he was capable of being that way. 

Maybe he even had to show himself the same. 

When the servant took him to the library where Elena was perched up on a window bench, her legs dangling off the edge, brown eyes focused on looking out into the afternoon light over her family’s estate, Damon had to stop for a moment and just watch her, ushering the servant off in the same moment. He didn’t even breathe, afraid if he did, it might just ruin the moment of peace his fiancee had, fracture the sight of her lost in her own world and secret thoughts. But then she was turning her head to look at him, a soft smile coming over her peach colored lips.

“Damon,” she said with a breath, carefully sliding off the bench and stepping over to him on quick feet, reaching out so she could take his hands and pull him in close, kissing his cheek. “I wasn’t sure you would come today with...our fathers fighting.” Elena bit into her bottom lip and looked down at their feet, though Damon pressed his fingers under her chin to pull her back up to him, forcing the girl to meet his eyes.

“You’re still my betrothed.” At least for now, he didn’t say. Instead, he pulled her back over to the window seat she had been lying on earlier, urging her to sit while he did the same beside her, holding her hands in his lap. “This changes nothing, Elena. They will...come to their senses eventually.” Damon wasn’t actually very hopeful in that department since this was his father they were talking about, but he would try to stay positive. Even if it was just for Elena’s sake, more than his own.

“Do you promise, Damon,” she said in a soft voice in reply, squeezing his hands and entwining their fingers in the process. Her eyes were wide, half scared for their uncertain future now with both of their fathers fighting over the dowry, but Damon’s presence was comforting to her...and that was something she didn’t want to lose. Not ever.

“I do.” The man leaned down to kiss her forehead gently, trying his best to ease her mind. “Now...let’s not talk about that anymore, tell me about your day,” he said in an upbeat tone, changing the subject to make the both of them feel better. Even if they couldn’t stop their fathers from arguing, they could still try to make the best of it.


	3. Making History

He’d spent the entire morning wondering how he could tell her and he learned that there wasn’t really...a good way to go about it. He was dreading it, to be completely honest, both leaving Elena and...well, everything else. Damon was going off to war and he had to tell his fiancee somehow. The fiancee he was supposed to marry in less than two weeks. Who knew how long him going to war would set things back...or end their engagement permanently. He just couldn’t be sure. And he’d really been looking forward to getting the ceremony over with...having a wife, which would lead to starting a family, an idea Damon had gotten very used to in the time they had been together.

But it seemed their relationship was already cursed with problem after problem, though it wasn’t exactly a good time for anyone in the South with plenty of men going off to the call of war. Damon just thanked God that his little brother didn’t have to suffer the same fate, that if he died in battle, Stefan would be there to comfort Elena. But Damon shook back the morbid thought, stepping out into the gardens of the Gilbert estate where Elena was sitting in the shade under a tree, reading a book, the mint green material of her dress spread out around her over the grass. She looked as beautiful as ever while Damon himself wasn’t exactly dressed to the nines. It’d been another heated day, the weather not letting up once, so he’d just thrown a coat on over his white linen shirt, his curly black hair sticking to his forehead with sweat from his ride over on his stallion, Jake.

“Miss Gilbert,” he called in a polite, though slightly worried tone, stepping towards her, his hands buried in the pockets of his trousers, a soft smile on his face, the one he always greeted her with. When she looked up at him, meeting his bright blue eyes with her brown ones, the woman stood up, marking the page in her book and throwing it down into the grass so she could step over to her future husband, wrapping her arms around Damon’s neck and kissing him gently on the lips daringly since they were completely alone outside. 

“Mister Salvatore,” Elena teased in reply, her smile widening into a grin. She always enjoyed the days when he would come over to see her, even if it was only for a little bit. She was...completely taken by Damon Salvatore. In love. which she never figured she would be able to get from an arranged marriage. Apparently she had been very wrong. But there was something off with her fiance today. “...What’s going on, Damon?”

He sighed softly and pulled her arms away from his neck, capturing her hands in his own and lacing their fingers together--a natural thing for him. Damon swallowed and closed his eyes for just a moment, steeling himself, really. Preparing himself for how Elena might react...but surely she should have seen this coming, right? “I...I have to go into battle,” he said to her slowly, carefully.

The girl’s eyes went wide and she pulled a hand away from the man, pressing it up to her mouth to muffle a worried sound, watching him. ...No. This just seemed surreal with all the plans for their wedding right around the corner, the engagement party, the dinners she had attended with him, the celebrations...and now Damon had to go to fight the North with the possibility that he might not come back... She dropped her slim hand away from her lips, a few tears slipping down her cheeks and she suddenly embraced the man, burying her face against the sweaty skin of his neck, smelling his cologne underneath. “You had better come back to me if you know what’s good for you, Damon Salvatore...”

He gave a little smile, hugging her back and pressing his cheek into the curls of her hair. “I’ll do my best, Miss Gilbert. If only for you.”


	4. Rivalry

Damon didn’t really know what words he would use to describe his “friend” George Lockwood, but detestable, wretched, and sordid would probably be at the top of the list. He didn’t hate him, per se...at least he thought he didn’t until he came home on a short leave from the army, rushing over to the Gilbert house to see Elena and finding George sitting on the porch with his fiancee, sipping fresh lemonade like _he_ was the one who was going to marry Miss Gilbert. But even with Lockwood there, Elena looked just as beautiful as Damon remembered. She was in a lilac colored dress, her hair up in a bun, though a few curls fell down to touch her delicate shoulders in a caress.

After everything Damon had seen on the battlefield, Elena was an angel, a gift from the heavens for him. ...And _only_ him.

He pulled his hat from his head, clutching it between his hands as he made his way up the steps of the house, watching as Elena pulled those brown doe eyes from George to her fiance. Her lips immediately curled into the biggest smile he had ever seen and she was suddenly in his arms in the next moment, practically crushing the man in her embrace.

“Damon! You’re home! Oh...” She couldn’t help it when tears came to her eyes and she stepped back, looking him over intently to make sure everything was still intact with him, that he was still wholly the Damon Salvatore she knew and loved. War had...hardened him around the edges--she could see that, but it was to be expected. Elena could only imagine the horrors that he’d seen out there. But all that mattered was the fact he was home now.

The girl pressed her hands to his face, stroking her thumbs over his cheekbones and staring into those blue eyes she loved so much. Her mouth was still agape and she swallowed. “I...can’t believe it... You’re home.”

She hugged him again, and Damon returned the action without hesitation, though his eyes were narrowed, focused on George who was sitting there staring at them. “Yes, I am home, Elena. At least for a few days. I was hoping we could spend the time _together_. Just you and me,” he said, his eyes never leaving the other man until Elena pulled back to look at Damon, nodding an excited yes.

“Of course, darling. I’d enjoy that. I’ve missed you so much. Did you receive all my letters?”

“Every single one, Elena,” he replied, eyes finally flicking down to her face again, slightly flushed from the heat of the afternoon and her excitement, though it made her no less beautiful and perfect in his eyes. “Sweetheart,” Damon continued with a breath, running his fingers gently over her cheek, feeling the heat of the skin. “You should go inside where it’s cooler. It looks as though you’ve been out too long. I’ll be in, in a minute.” Elena gave a bit of an embarrassed expression, but obliged her fiance, giving George a quick goodbye before she disappeared through the front doors of the house.

“I see you’re all in one piece, Salvatore,” the other man said when they were alone, a tone of sarcasm in his voice that only made Damon more angry about the situation. It would be just like George to be jealous that Damon was engaged to the most beautiful young woman in all of Mystic Falls...but that was just how the dice were rolled. The Salvatores wanted what the Gilberts had to offer--it was the perfect marriage, really and both families gained much from it. It just so happened that Damon was also lucky enough to have fallen in love with the girl in the process.

“Mmmhm, I certainly am. I suppose luck was on my side as I promised my fiancee I would come back in one piece for her.” Damon cocked his head and grinned sarcastically, moving past George to take a seat in the chair Elena had been in minutes earlier, setting his hat down in his lap. He studied the other man with a measure of disgust on his face. “And now...here I am, so I suppose that means you can go,” he said in a bit of a blunt manner, not really caring how much he offended George in the process.

The other man didn’t seem to really notice, he just continued to sit there, soon finishing off his drink and setting the swearing glass down on the table where it had been before. “I was simply making sure Miss Gilbert was doing well, that’s all. A woman can get so... _lonely_ in these times of hardship. I’m sure you understand, Damon...”

It took all of Damon’s control not to stand and punch the other man in the jaw for those words. He didn’t want to tolerate such comments about his fiancee, especially not from someone like George Lockwood, but Damon would be the better person, he would walk away. After all, _he_ was the one who had Elena’s hand and her heart. “And your assistance is no longer required, George. I fully plan on making sure she’s not lonely at all while I am still in town for the time being.” He didn’t waste a moment and got up from his seat, heading over to the front door of the Gilbert house, looking back at the other soldier with a bit of mischief in his eyes, brows raised. “I am certain there are a few women at the tavern that could use such a charming man like you to help with their loneliness though. They are, after all, about all you deserve.” Damon didn’t wait for a reply from the man, he quickly disappeared inside, going in search of his young lover. They had a lot of catching up to do after the months he had been gone at war, and Damon was going to make sure they used their time to its fullest advantage.


	5. Unbreakable

Damon found Elena sitting in the study, her hands laying open in her lap, chin pressed to her chest while she watched them as if there was something interesting about them for her. They were delicate hands, smooth skinned and soft, hands that Damon had often held onto, running his fingertips over them to relax her. He longed to take those hands in his own again after the long months he had been away from Mystic Falls, fighting the foolish war between north and south. He hoped it would end soon, that he could come home to stay once and for all.

He approached her carefully as though she was a wild animal, one that could do anything at anytime, but all she did was sit there until Damon seated himself next to her, wrapping an arm around her lean shoulders and pulling her into his side. “I’ve sent Mr. Lockwood away,” he murmured to her, inhaling the scent of her sweet perfume that smelled of roses. He hadn’t ever forgotten it--really, she had haunted his dreams in one way or another while he had been away from her, whether he could smell her, feel the silkiness of her hair or skin, or hear her laugh...

But now he had it again. At least for a few days, that was what mattered.

Elena didn’t really reply to him, just turned her head up, kissing his cheek gently and looking into his bright blue eyes, studying them closely with the features of his face. There were the beginnings of wrinkles from stress and she thought she noticed a few strands of silver in his dark hair, but...he was still her Damon. Her fiance. Her soldier, come back safe and sound. “I was so scared that--”

Damon suddenly put a finger gently over her lips, quieting the girl. He didn’t want to talk about death and the “what if's that went with it, he just wanted to focus on them being together. “I’m here, Elena, and I will always come back to you. Always,” he told her in a strong voice that had a tone of sweetness in it under the surface. “The bond that we share is unbreakable, and that is why you need not worry yourself over my safety. I have your hopes and wishes protecting me. And your love.” He smiled at her and pulled his finger away from her mouth, taking one of her hands and lifting it so he could kiss the skin. “Once this war is over and I’ve come back for good, we can finally marry...” He wasn’t nervous about the prospect anymore, just excited to get away from army life.

“I love you, Damon Salvatore,” Elena said to him in a sure voice, holding his hand against her breast, over her heart that was beating wildly in her chest. It was the first time she had said the words to him, even with the emotion being clear between them. But she couldn’t not tell him now, knowing that she might not have another chance.

Damon was a bit shocked by her words, but his expression softened and he smiled at the girl, lifting his other hand to stroke her cheek lovingly and delicately. “And I love you, Elena Gilbert.” There was a moment of silence between them before the man pressed his lips to her own, feeling his fiancee reciprocate the action, opening her mouth below his. He could feel the slickness of her tongue against his bottom lip and he was unable to hold back a soft moan of pure bliss. He basked in it, letting his own tongue slip into her warm mouth, exploring the unfamiliar cavern, causing Elena to tremble and cling to him desperately. She was lost in pleasure while they kissed, and when Damon pulled his head back, her cheeks were stained with blush. She was so sweet, his little lover. “I love you,” he told her again and she smiled wide, resting her head on his shoulder and just letting herself be held by him.


	6. Eternity

It had been surreal for Damon to be standing at the altar of the town’s small church, practically everyone in attendance for the event of the elder Salvatore’s marriage to the most beautiful young woman in all of Virginia. For the day, the townspeople seemed to forget about how the war had left the South scarred and still bleeding. There were no problems for the time being and that was how he’d wanted it to be, especially for Elena’s sake as the bride. He really couldn’t stop smiling, blue eyes flicking over Elena in the cream silk gown that Honoria Fell had made just for her, the laced bodice showing off the curves of her hips and breasts, making her appear like an angelic figure in the daylight streaming through the church windows. She was practically glowing, smiling at him from under her delicate lace veil that was edged with embroidered roses and leaves. 

It seemed to take hours for the moment to come for Damon to slip the petite emerald and diamond ring on Elena’s slim finger, the piece of jewelry fitting perfectly as though it had been made for her. In all actuality, it was a ring from Italy that had been passed down through the Salvatore family for a few generations, the last woman to have worn it being Damon’s mother who died when her children were young. It had been kept safely in a box just for this day, when the eldest Salvatore would have found the woman he’d spend the rest of his life with. And now that woman was staring down at the ring, then looking back up at Damon with her wide and kind brown eyes. 

Elena’s face lit up under the petite lace veil that was vaguely covering her features, and that smile on her lips only seemed to widen when Damon pulled it up, lifting the sheer material over her head of dark brown curls. As he leaned in to kiss her as his wife, she met him in the middle, her lips soft and gentle against his own and he honestly felt like he could have stayed there with her for hours, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. But he had to pull away from her in a moment for fear things might seem less than innocent, though his blue eyes bright with adoration and a promise for the evening to come. 

They were married, her and the man she’d been waiting to come back safe and sound from the war. And now, as she walked down the aisle with him by her side, she felt like she would never be anything other than happy for the rest of eternity.


End file.
